Digital Notes: Samsung Buys a Start-Up That Streams to Mobile Devices

Samsung Electronics has bought mSpot, a technology start-up that streams music and video to mobile devices. The companies announced the deal on Wednesday, and did not disclose financial terms, but a South Korean news report over the weekend about the companies’ negotiations estimated mSpot’s price at $8.8 million.

A service that lets users stream movies and music to cellphones, mSpot, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., is one of a number of cloud media services that has struggled to gain traction in the marketplace. But its technology could help Samsung develop entertainment offerings for its phones and other products. Samsung may have already begun to do that: Last week, the company introduced a new smartphone, the Galaxy S III, which includes an improved version of its Music Hub cloud service.

Samsung is not the only big mobile-electronics company looking to become more competitive by acquiring digital music services. In March, it emerged that Beats Electronics, whose majority owner is the Taiwanese cellphone company HTC, was in talks to acquire Mog, a streaming music service that competes with Spotify and Rhapsody. That deal has apparently not been completed yet.

Liberty Adds to Sirius Stake: After the Federal Communications Commission rejected Liberty Media’s attempt to gain control over Sirius XM Radio despite its minority stake of 40 percent, the company has begun to advance its position the old-fashioned way, by buying more stock. In its quarterly earnings announcement on Tuesday, Liberty said that it had entered into a $650 million contract that, if completed, would give Liberty a 45.2 percent stake in Sirius.